Belmonte adds 200m fly world title to Olympic gold

BUDAPEST - Spain's Mireia Belmonte won the women's 200m butterfly title at the world championships on Thursday (July 27) to add to her Olympic gold medal.

Belmonte touched the wall in two minutes, 05.26 seconds with Germany's Franziska Hentke taking silver at 0.13 back and Hungary's Katinka Hosszu earning bronze at 0.63. Having won world silver at home in Barcelona four years ago, Belmonte has gone one better a year after being crowned Olympic champion in Rio. "This is one of the best moments of my life," said the Spaniard. "This golden medal was the last which was missing from my collection.”

"Rio is the best moment in my life, but this is an important moment. The key to win this final was the first 100 metres." This was Belmonte's second medal of these championships after she took silver in the 1500m freestyle on Tuesday - finishing 19 seconds behind gold-medallist and long-distance queen Katie Ledecky of the USA.

Hentke, 28, the European champion in 2016, was stunned by her silver, the first major medal of her career. "I don't know what to say, I am absolutely speechless and I am so happy," said Hentke, who claimed Germany's first swimming medal in Budapest. "When I saw the line-up for the final I was sure that only Mireia Belmonte, Katinka Hosszu and me can take a medal, but I still can't believe it that I got the silver."

MEDEIROS WINS WOMEN'S 50M BACKSTROKE GOLD ON WALL: Brazil's Etiene Medeiros won the women's 50m backstroke gold at the world championships on Thursday (July 27) in a desperately tight final which she won on the wall. Medeiros clocked 27.14 seconds, a new Americas record just 0.08 away from the world record set in 2009, while China's Fu Yuanhui took silver at 0.01 back.

Bulgaria's Aliaksandra Herasimenia earned bronze at just 0.09 behind as all eight swimmers in the final finished within half a second of Medeiros. Having won silver at the Kazan world championships two years ago, the 26-year-old Medeiros went one better in Budapest having also come within 0.12 of the world record on Wednesday.

In the semi-finals, Fu had also been just 0.01 seconds behind Medeiros. "I'm so happy. Two years ago I was second, but now I'm the champion, so this is so important in my life," said Medeiros. "I want to thank to my coach - this year has been so different for me. "Now I'm so relaxed. "Last night was so hard for me, because I was thinking about the final.

"I wasn't confident of winning after last night's semi-finals and the Chinese was very strong today. "I was a bit nervous, but I took time to relax and just be happy and it worked out." Having been so narrowly beaten, Fu is edging her way towards her first major title. "It was a very tight finish, but in backstroke, this is absolutely normal," said Fu. "I'm not completely satisfied with my result, but, of course, I'm happy about my silver medal. "Unfortunately, I couldn't swim my personal best, so I have a little feeling of wanting more." Fu now has world silver after wining joint bronze over 100m at last year's Rio Olympics.

DRESSEL WINS MEN'S 100M FREESTYLE FOR GOLDEN HAT-TRICK: Caeleb Dressel won the men’s 100m freestyle final at the world championships on Thursday (July 27) to bag his third title in Budapest and give the United States the gold and silver. Dressel touched the wall first at 47.17 seconds with compatriot Nathan Adrian, the 2012 Olympic champion, second at 0.70 back as France’s Mehdy Metella earned bronze at 0.72.

“Right now, it’s all smiles,” said Dressel. “I’ll let it sink in a bit, it’s my first and last event tonight, so I’m excited. “Man – it’s nice to go one-two with Nathan, there’s nothing like seeing Americans on top. “I just want to do my best each time with I go into the water with the flag on my cap.”

The 20-year-old completed his hat-trick of world golds by powering home over the final 50 metres in a commanding display having already been part of the victorious 4x100m freestyle and mixed 4x100m medley relay squads. Dressel also broke a world record in Budapest by swimming the third leg of the mixed medley relay on Wednesday, which lowered the previous mark both in the morning’s heats and final. “I’m on top of the world right now,” said Dressel. “If you had told me this would be my first world title, I would definitely have laughed at you four months ago – I was over three seconds slower,” he added.

Silver-medallist Adrian was pleased to see the USA claim first and second on the podium to silence critics on social media, especially after comptriot Chase Kalisz had earlier won the men’s 200m IM gold.

“We’re fine with the silver we’re stoked to see team USA go one-two,” said the 28-year-old Adrian.

“I was starting to see some chirrups on Twitter about Team USA not bringing home the medals, so I was glad to step up and get a medal and watch Caleb and Chase do their thing.

“The 100 freestyle was always going to be close, it’s just the nature of that event. “It’s a crazy event, there’s a lot going on in the pool. “If you don’t have a good view, you don’t even know what’s going on, but it’s really fun to be part of it.”